Home Is Where The Heart Is
by MadisonAva
Summary: "Daddy I've fallen for a monster. Somehow he's scaring me to death. He's big and he's bad , I love him like mad."
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Home**

I always knew I would have to come back at this time. Though I was starting to wonder if this was too soon. If it was too much for me _and_ for Ruby. Hogwarts had been my home for just over 4 years and I was forced to take nearly 2 years off due to my pregnancy. I had gotten pregnant around the beginning of December in 5th year and hadn't been back to school since I decided to keep the baby. Now I was back to finish off my education with my daughter Ruby and hopefully succeed in avoiding a certain black-haired boy.

I wanted to arrive at Platform 9 and ¾ earlier than most people to get a compartment for myself and Ruby who was now just over a year old. When I did run through the wall I was being given a lot of weird looks as I walked down the platform to the train. I guess I hadn't come as early as I thought. Holding Ruby on one hip and pushing my trolley with my other hand I pushed through the crowd.

"Leah!" I heard my name from down the platform though I couldn't place it as there was so much noise. That was until I saw a ginger running my way.

"Lily!" I yelled back, happy to see my friend again. I had kept in touch with my Gryffindor roommates when I left and I would see them almost every holidays.

"You're here! I'm so glad to see you. Oh hello again Ruby, my lovely. It's been weeks since I've seen your cute little face, yes it has."

I laughed as the biggest smile came onto my daughters face.

"I'm glad to see you too, Lily. I can't believe I'm coming back to Hogwarts. It's kind of frightening."

It became easier to hear Lily as the crowd disappeared. A lot of the students were now climbing onto the train.

"Oh don't be afraid. It will all be cool. Merlin! There seems to be so many more students this year. Oh! That's right. I forgot to tell you." Lily stood there grinning at me.

"Tell me what?"

"I got Head Girl!"

"Congratulations Lily! I always knew you'd get it."

"Thankyou, thank you. I'm so excited. I still don't know who the Head Boy is, but I will find out in about 15 minutes I guess. Can I hold Ruby?"

"Of course you can, Lily," I turned to look at Ruby, "Okay Ruby darling, you want to be held by Aunty Lily?"

Ruby smiled, giggled and held out her arms to Lily. It was so adorable. I knew Lily would always be a good friend. She had been really helpful with Ruby when she could come home for the holidays and I had missed her these recent ones as I took a holiday to France to see the sights. We talked for a little longer until an unfortunate encounter occurred.

* * *

"Sorry, excuse me… ow merlin!" Someone pushed past me and into my trolley.

"Oh I'm sorry, I probably should move my trolley," the person looked at me, "Oh! Hello Potter. I can't say it's nice to see you again."

He looked at me shocked, "Er… Do I know you?"

I looked at Lily. _Did I really look that different?_

"Potter." Lily decided to intervene while still holding Ruby.

"Evans! Good to see you and who is the baby?"

"This is Ruby and my friend here is Leah Cooper."

Potter's shocked face became worse and I stifled my laughter.

"Cooper… Cooper, Cooper? As in Sirius' Cooper?"

I grabbed Ruby from Lily and pushed my trolley as far away from James Potter as I could. I was in shock, not in control of my actions. I didn't want hear his name so soon. I already thought about him everyday, every time I looked into my daughter's eyes. This was too much. I shouldn't have come back. I can't get on. I can not get on this train. I sat down on the bench near the end of the platform and just took care of Ruby.

* * *

**Meanwhile back with James and Lily…**

"You are such an idiot, Potter. Did you really bring up Black in front of Leah?" Lily was beyond angry right now and since Potter had been growing up slightly last year, she was almost scared that she was going to say something she might regret.

"How was I supposed to know, Evans?"

"I'm sure you remember what happened back in 5th year."

"Of course I do. I was, however just in a bit of shock just before. Who was the baby?"

"I can't tell you that, Potter. Let's just leave it be. I'm sure you'll find out eventually. Where is Remus? I need to tell him I'll be a bit late to the Prefect meeting… thanks to you."

Potter did his signature move of pulling his fingers through his hair, "No need, Evans. I'll let everyone know."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm Head Boy."

"No, you're not. That's not possible. You weren't even a prefect last year."

"Look Evans, you can believe me or you can not believe me. Either way I'm Head Boy and I'd really appreciate it if you help me out when you get to the meeting."

James Potter, Head Boy of Hogwarts walked away with an almost apologetic look on his face.

* * *

I noticed Lily coming towards me and I stood up. I was ready to tell her.

"Lily, I -"

"This cannot be happening. Merlin, this is going to be the worst year of my life."

"Lily, what's wrong?"

"James Potter is Head Boy."

"Oh." I really had no idea what to say to that. I had just prepared myself to tell her that I wasn't going to come back to Hogwarts this year.

"I can't handle this right now. I was hoping it would be Remus or Diggory. Come on we should get you into a compartment."

"Lily, I'm not coming on the train."

"What are you talking about? Don't be silly, Leah. This is your one chance to finish your education. I need you here, please."

I looked at Ruby and then at Lily. I glanced at the train and the platform. I thought about my life, Ruby's life. Lily was right, I need to finish my training as a witch.

"Okay Lily, let's go."

* * *

Lily and I entered the seventh year Gryffindor girls compartment to an assortment of screams, which ended up making Ruby cry.

"Hi girls! Just give me a sec, I need to calm Ruby down."

Ruby was crying so loud that other students were peeking out of their compartments, obviously wondering why there was a baby on the train. I tried to ignore their looks.

"Shh, it's okay. Come on darling, stop crying." I hugged my daughter tightly and she eventually calmed down. I turned around just in time to hear the one voice I was scared of hearing. I quickly cast a disillusionment and silencing charm and stood as still as I could.

"I'm telling you Padfoot, Cooper is on the train."

"I don't believe you! You're just pulling a prank on me." Black was (if it was possible) even more attractive than the last time I saw him. This would make the rest of the year very hard on me.

I saw Remus push through and stand in front of him right next to me, "He's not kidding mate. I saw her too."

"Merlin. Well it will be interesting to see her again. Maybe I can get into her pants again."

"Padfoot! Is that all you think about? As soon as I mentioned your name on the platform, she ran off," replied Potter.

The Marauders walked off and I took a deep breath. I uncast the charms and opened the compartment doors seeing four shocked faces looking back at me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Don't," I said, looking at my four friends and the expressions on their faces. I didn't want to talk about what I had just heard. I wanted to enjoy this train ride to Hogwarts. I wanted to laugh with my friends and buy Pumpkin Pasties and play with my daughter. What I wanted most was to forget what Sirius Black just said.

They all looked at me until Alice decided to change the subject, "Can I hold Ruby? It's been so long."

I smiled, "Yes of course."

I handed Ruby over to Alice and while she was entertaining her, Lily left for the prefects meeting. That left Marlene and Mary to catch me up on all the gossip.

"Amos Diggory is now in a relationship with Alicia McKenna. How weird is that?"

"Marlene! You're kidding. McKenna? Wow, how things have changed." I was enjoying this time with my girlfriends. Though my good mood was about to be destroyed by the entrance of four boys. Just before the encounter I took back Ruby when she became restless and Lily had returned from the meeting. Silent. I reminded myself to talk to her about it later.

The compartment doors opened and in entered the Marauders.

"I tried to stop them," shouted Remus from behind Black and Potter. Black looked over at me, his eyes opening widely.

"Well, well, well if it isn't Leah Cooper. It has certainly been a long time."

"Black," I replied with a nod.

I could see from the corner of my eye my friends looking warily at the conversation that was about to start.

"I didn't believe it when I first heard you were here."

"I know."

"What do you mean you know?"

"I heard your conversation when you were accompanying Potter to the prefects meeting."

"Merlin, Cooper. I didn't mean it like that."

"Really, Black? How did you mean it then?" I was angry now. I didn't want to bring it up, but I just couldn't help it. I was holding onto Ruby more tightly now and I was sure any moment she would start crying. Black was uncomfortable and Potter tried to intervene but he was stopped.

"Potter, we have to do rounds," Lily steered Potter away and out of the compartment.

Black looked at me, "Can we talk alone?"

"No."

"Come on mate, let's go."

Sirius almost looked pained to leave but he listened to Lupin and walked out.

* * *

We arrived at the castle and entered the Great Hall for the beginning of year feast. It had been so long, I was in awe of the ceiling, the decorations and just the overall feeling surrounding me. I smiled at my friends and we took our seats.

"Welcome new and old students to another year at Hogwarts. Now, let's eat!"

I always liked that Professor Dumbledore's speeches were short and to the point. Mainly due to the fact that I was hungry. Now that Ruby was over a year old it made feeding her a lot easier. I fed her in-between eating my own food and chatting with Mary who was sitting next to me.

"I know you don't want to talk about this now Leah, but I've been thinking," she said.

"Oh?"

"I think you should tell him."

"Mary... Please."

"I know, I know. I just wanted to tell you what I thought. Oh, did we tell you that Argus Grove and Charity Hart broke up during the summer?" I appreciated her quick change of the subject.

"No! What? That's crazy. They've been going out forever."

"It's really sad. She broke up with him, and now he hasn't really talked to anyone since. He's completely heart-broken."

I looked over at the Hufflepuff table to see Argus Grove with his head down and eating slowly. Though every few seconds he would look over at the Ravenclaw table to see his ex-girlfriend getting close to George Burke. My heart broke for him, he was too good for Hart.

I stole a glance over at the Marauders to see Black staring at Ruby who I had handed over to Alice just before. He glanced over at me, then back to Ruby. Shit! There is no way he could figure that out. For all he knows, Ruby could be my sibling or niece. Let's hope it stayed that way. I didn't want him to know. He broke my heart, in the most horrible way I had experienced and I wasn't ready to let him into Ruby's life.

The feast finished and we took the stairs back to the Gryffindor common room. It was good to be home.

* * *

It was the first day of classes and I was nervous. Since being home schooled I wasn't sure if I had been learning the right things or how behind I was. I had transfiguration first with Professor McGonogall. I walked into the classroom with Lily and we took a seat in the second row on the Gryffindor side. The other side was for the Slytherins. I looked around the classroom to see who was in my class. Unfortunately, I caught the eye of Black. I quickly turned around and opened my book.

Professor McGonogall walked in and stood at the front. She glanced over the students and her gaze landed on me last.

"Welcome back, Miss Cooper. I hope you're up to scratch."

"Thankyou Professor, I hope so too," I replied.

She nodded, "Welcome students to NEWT level Transfiguration. You are in this subject because you are talented enough to be here. I won't hesitate to change that if I see you are falling behind. This year is very important for you all, and I trust you understand that. Transfiguration is achieved through concentration, precise wand movements, and the proper pronunciation of an incantation. Today, I want to see the level of which you can turn a goblet into a wooden chair. Goblets are to your left on the shelves. You may start."

Lily collected two goblets for me and her and we started. It took Lily only a few tries but she was able to turn the gold goblet into a brown wooden chair.

"Congratulations, Miss Evans. 5 points to Gryffindor."

"Thankyou Professor," Lily replied.

I, however had a bit more trouble.

"I do believe I asked for a brown wooden chair not a gold cot, Miss Cooper." I turned bright red. Transfiguration was usually my best subject.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I'll keep trying."

"No need. I'll find you a tutor. I do want you to do well this year. I know how important it is for you and your daughter."

Unfortunately, the class had gone quite quiet when Professor McGonogall said that last bit. I looked around and saw the shock on everyones faces.

"Yes, Professor. Thankyou."

After she walked away, I turned to Lily, "Lily! Now everyone knows! Oh merlin, the Marauders are in this class too. This can't be happening."

"Leah, look at me. It will all be okay. People were bound to find out eventually."

"Not this soon. It's only the first day of classes."

* * *

As you can imagine, the gossip that Ruby was actually my daughter went around the school like wild fire. Everytime I walked through the corridors there was whispers and stares and it was almost too much for me to handle. The only things keeping me sane were my friends and Ruby. It was the Friday of the first week and I had just finished my last class which was Transfiguration and I was about to go and pick up Ruby from the Hospital Wing.

"Miss Cooper and Mr Black, can you stay behind for a couple of minutes please."

"I'll meet you up in the common room, Leah," said Lily as she went out the door.

I walked up to the desk with Black at my side.

"Now, Miss Cooper as I had on the first say, I'm going to find you a tutor. Though I believe I already have. Mr Black, if you wouldn't mind I would like you to tutor Miss Cooper in Transfiguration."

No. No. Sirius Black cannot tutor me. What is McGonogall thinking!

"No, really Professor. It's fine, I can find my own tutor." Black stayed silent, just looked at the floor.

"Miss Cooper, Mr Black is the best in this class if you hadn't noticed. You need tutoring and he has already agreed."

I looked at Black. Why would he agree to tutor me?

"I will leave you both to work out a time and place. Have a good weekend."

The Transfiguration Professor left us alone.

"Why?" I asked.

"It's not like I didn't try to get out of it. McGonogall said I would be given detention if I didn't agree." He refused to look at me.

"What happened to the cocky Sirius i-don't-care-about-getting-detentions Black I once knew?"

"I guess he changed, Cooper."

I scoffed, "Oh yes, you showed an excellent example of how you've changed on the train."

"Meet me in the Library at 8 on Sunday."

"Okay," I sighed.

* * *

I walked out of the classroom and up to the Hospital Wing where I saw Ruby sitting on a bed. She was playing with blocks and had a look of intense concentration on her face. She moved slightly and her tower of blocks fell down. She looked up and noticed me standing there.

"Oh hello, my darling. How are you today? I've missed you so much!"

Ruby squealed, "Mama!" and stretched out her arms. I lifted her into my arms and just held her.

We walked into the office to say goodbye to Madam Pomfrey.

"Say goodbye to Madam Pomfrey, Ruby. You'll see her on Monday."

"Bye Pommey!" Ruby said.

"You have an adorable daughter, Miss Cooper." Madam Pomfrey smiled.

"Thankyou."

While we were walking down a corridor on our way to the Gryffindor Common Room I heard voices coming around the corner. I quickly cast the disillusionment charm. I didn't want to deal with the whispers today.

"Prongs, come on! We haven't done a good prank in ages," I heard Black say.

"I'm Head Boy now, I have to be responsible."

"Or in other words you want to show Evans how responsible you're being."

Potter laughed, "Yeah, something like that. Anyway, you can't risk another detention Padfoot. Let's just drop it this year, okay?"

"You're no fun, anymore Prongs."

Now that's the Sirius Black I know, I thought. I wonder what was up with him in the Transfiguration classroom.


End file.
